Interview with Entrepreness Grace Pae of Artemis Foods

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June 11, 2010 by Elijah | Comments (0)

Grace Pae, owner of Artemis Foods and its offshoot, the Artemis Café, is a chef and entrepreness who really knows how to manage a business that’s sustainable in all senses of the word. Artemis Foods provides environmentally friendly catering services to the likes of Al Gore and governor Ted Kulongoski, and the Artemis Café on SE Division provides delicious seasonal, local, and organic food for all of Portland to enjoy. Grace shares her tips on owning a sustainable business, making great food, and knowing when to walk away.

When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
Well, I actually had attended an apprenticeship alliance group meeting in San Francisco when I was in my early twenties, and they were offering apprenticeships with masters. It was started by an older German woman who was trying to recreate the apprenticeship model that was done more in the European countries, where a master would take an apprentice and teach them a trade. So, I was looking at doing, actually, a silk painting apprenticeship, and then I was really captivated by the chef that was offering an apprenticeship. I had really never thought about it before, then I started looking into it and I was accepted as one of his apprentices. Someone presented it to me and it sounded really creative.

What’s your favorite venue to work at?
This year we just got on at the Lan Su Chinese Garden, and we’ve just done an open house there, but I think that’s my new favorite venue. It’s just so beautiful. They just changed their name this year to the Lan Su Chinese Garden. It used to be called the Classical Chinese Garden.

What’s your favorite thing about owning your own business?
I think it’s the direct response and the ability to just make things happen. It’s really fun and exciting– kind of being in the captain’s chair.

You opened your café a while ago. What was that like for you?
Opening the café was really a challenge. In the café, I saw more that it was a process. I had a specific model of what I wanted to organize it as, but it’s really been a work in progress. The neighborhood has really affected what we do and what we sell, and new businesses have sprung up around us. It’s been really interesting. I guess both businesses have been really organic and took on a life of their own. I really just listen and pay attention to what kind of feedback and requests we’re getting. It’s been really interesting and growing the café has been a really creative, organic kind of process.

Speaking of organic, what place do you believe that sustainability has in business in general?
Well, I think it’s interesting. I think you first have to determine the meaning of “sustainable,” and I think every business owner starts out and, of course, you want your business to have a long, healthy life and to have an active part in the community. That’s a big part of what I see in my businesses: we definitely have made great connections and have great relationships with different groups in the community. I think the sustainable idea for all businesses is to find the model that works and that you’ll be able to keep your business going with. And, of course, all the things like profitability and relationships add up to be sustainable. I think before sustainability was really defined, it was really a part of running a successful business. You know, making sure that the decisions you’re making are going to roll into being around for the following years. There’s a model that the Oregon Natural Step outlines and there’s four distinct areas of consideration in order to be sustainable. It was kind of cool when I found about it because I definitely have those four aspects that I consider in my businesses. The first one is to consider the impact of what you’re producing. How does the item you’re producing or the service you’re providing impact the greater world and the environment. There’s also how you’re impacting your community and the health of your community, which includes your employees. Then there’s the kind of waste that you’re producing, and that’s a big part of the sustainability of my businesses. The last one is degradation by physical means. That’s kind of hard to translate to food service, but if we’re, say, driving our vans, are we emitting carbon? For instance, our main delivery van is biodiesel.

What do you think is the secret to great food?
Well, that’s a very complex question. I think it’s absolutely using the best ingredients. For ingredients to be the best, there’s the freshness and the wholeness of the food. Under the definition of freshness, there’s the distance it’s traveling to get to you and whether or not its seasonal. For the wholeness, there’s how it’s raised and how it’s farmed and what kind of waste is produced by that farming practice. I think the freshness and the wholesomeness of the food make up what’s a good ingredient.

What’s your favorite local restaurant?
I really don’t eat out that much. I’d say a special occasion restaurant that I like a lot is Park Kitchen. They use local and seasonal items and they’re very creative. It’s based in traditional french technique and it’s very creative and interesting presentations.

What’s one thing that you know now that you didn’t when you opened Artemis?
I didn’t know what a trend sustainable food service would become. There’s a terrible thing called greenwashing [spinning a product or service so it seems more green than it really is]. I didn’t know that.

What’s the biggest business mistake that you’ll never make again?
It think it would be rushing into making a decision. I think, on a lot of levels, that if I don’t have enough time to process a decision, I’ll walk away from it. I think that’s been a big lesson for me: always take your time and process information very thoroughly.

What do you miss most about working for someone else, if there’s anything at all?
You know what I miss most? Being able to walk away or call somebody else.

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